


In Darkness We Wait

by Dikhotomia



Series: Whumptober 2k19: FE3H Edition [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alt Prompt Hiding, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Day Five, Gen, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 16:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20969471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dikhotomia/pseuds/Dikhotomia
Summary: "Dorothea clings to the hand not occupied by her axe, vice grip uncomfortable but ignored.The woods are alive around them, bodies crashing through the underbrush and shouts ringing off the canopy of trees around them. She can hear the retreat of small animals and birds, scrambling out of the way of heavy foot falls and the clang of metal off wood. She doesn't know how many there are, only saw a brief glimpse before the first arrow skimmed her cheek and sent them running, Dorothea dragging her behind her before she could freeze."ORAn unknown party makes an attempt on Edelgard's life





	In Darkness We Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Day five's prompt was Gunpoint originally so I used the substitute prompt "Hiding" instead since...there are no guns in FE and while I could have done something in a modern setting I didn't.

She learned at a young age how to be adept at hiding. How to tuck herself up underneath a small bed, or into a corner with deep shadows to make sure no one could see her. She remembers hiding in the curl of her siblings, remembers how week by week there was less shivering bodies and quiet attempts at assurances as the madness and the paralysis took over. As they started hiding from each other as much as they did the guards. Then it was just her, watching the feet of the guards as they moved through the cell, exasperated voices telling her they knew she was there.

To just come out and make this easier on all of them.

She tucked herself in deeper until one of them found her, dragging her out by the collar of her shirt.

It's similar to the situation she finds herself in now, gasping for air and sore from a desperate sprint through the woods from people who wanted her dead. The warning from Thales echoing in the back of her mind while she sat pressed up against the hollow trunk of a fallen tree. Every breath tastes of wet earth and decay, water seeping into her clothes and chilling her as much as the bite of cold air at her exposed skin.

Dorothea clings to the hand not occupied by her axe, vice grip uncomfortable but ignored. 

The woods are alive around them, bodies crashing through the underbrush and shouts ringing off the canopy of trees around them. She can hear the retreat of small animals and birds, scrambling out of the way of heavy foot falls and the clang of metal off wood. She doesn't know how many there are, only saw a brief glimpse before the first arrow skimmed her cheek and sent them running, Dorothea dragging her behind her before she could freeze.

"It's cold," Dorothea mutters, words chattering out between shivers. "Where did we even end up?" she asks, curling in tighter around herself and Edelgard glances at her, unfolding the legs she had drawn up to her chest. The other girl gets the unspoken invitation and moves, gingerly crawling into her lap.

"I don't know," Edelgard replies once Dorothea has situated herself, curled around her and pressed tight to her front, breath hot against her neck. "Wherever it is they wanted us here." In the woods, but probably not as well hidden as they were, a twisted ankle and a fall down an incline leading them stumbling and desperate to the tree they now hide in. She doesn't expect rescue, even if by now Hubert was likely looking, rallying the rest of their class and whoever else would come to try and find them.

"I'm sorry Edie," Dorothea whispers, face pressing into her skin. "I shouldn't have dragged you out with me." Edelgard wraps her up as best she can, fingers tangling in her long hair as she cups the back of her head, legs drawn up to rest thighs against shoulder-blades. As small as possible, neither able to figure out where they begin or end.

"Don't apologize Dorothea," she rebukes, lips to her temple. "You were doing what you thought was best for me." Dorothea had seen the tell tale signs of her anxiety welling, how restless she had been in the enclosed spaces they moved through during their day. Even the Professor had watched her with concern, eyes sharp and seeing through the insistence that she was fine. She had given in because the grounds of Garreg Mach were supposed to be safe.

Until _she_ made her final move.

But the letter she got from Thales that morning had kept her on her toes, had made her hesitant and paranoid, looking over her shoulder for anyone that shouldn't have been there. She ended up walking right into it, the trap, the ambush. Only escaping because the archer had missed.

"Hubie is going to be furious at me." Dorothea's voice -- steadier now, the tremors wracking her body fewer -- drags her attention back. Makes her focus on the distance of their would be killers and the silence of the woods otherwise.

"No," she replies, leaning as far as she could to see out the side of their hiding spot. "He won't, I'll explain what happened." She knows he does things without her knowledge, keeps things from her she wishes he wouldn't. But he yielded to her stubbornness when she forced it, when she dragged him down and wrapped him up in her orders and her words.

Most of the time she turned a blind eye.

_That's assuming you survive_. She banishes the thought as soon as it filters to the surface, insipid and whispering. Even if they had to wait until their pursuers got further away and sneak back into town they would.

They would.

They had to.

A shiver of motion out of the corner of her eye brings her jerking back, pressing her shoulders into the wood and breathing a little quicker. Dorothea's fingers dig into her shoulders and she looks up at her, meeting her eyes with the same look of fear Edelgard feels. She can hear them now, adrenaline spiking each and every one of her senses, the flicker of torchlight breaking and scattering the shadows. Close, too close, and she counts four. It's too many, even with Dorothea's magic and her own speed and power, it only took one yell.

So she held her breath, held the girl in her lap and her axe and didn't pray. 

Because there was nothing to pray to.

**Author's Note:**

> catch me on [Tumblr](http://dikhotomia.tumblr.com/) and or [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/modulatechaos)


End file.
